The state of family medicine training programmes within the Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network
Date
2020-08-11
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Abstract
The 2019 Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network (Primafamed) meeting in
Kampala, Uganda, included a workshop that aimed to assess the state of postgraduate family
medicine training programmes in the Primafamed network. Forty-six people from 14 African
and five other countries were present. The evaluation of programmes or countries according to
the stages of change model was compared to a previous assessment made 5 years ago. Most
countries have remained at the same stage of change. Two countries appeared to have reversed
their readiness to change as Rwanda moved from relapse to pre-contemplation and Mozambique
moved from action to contemplation. Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe increased their readiness
to change and moved from contemplation to action. Countries in the region remain quite diverse
in terms of their commitment to family medicine training. Within Primafamed, it is possible
for countries with a more advanced stage of change to assist countries with an earlier stage.
Primafamed is also supported by a variety of partners outside of Africa. Five years after the
previous country-level assessment, family medicine in Africa continues to span across all levels
of the stages of change model. Stage-matched interventions aligned with the needs of individual
countries should follow. Consequently, this workshop report will serve as a mandate and
compass for Primafamed’s actions over the next few years, aimed at designing and delivering
these interventions. As reiterated in the 2019 Kampala commitment, we should continue
developing the discipline of family medicine (the medical ‘specialty’ of primary care), through
alignment of our training programmes to the health needs in the African region.
Description
CITATION: Von Pressentin, K.B., Besigye, I., Mash, R., Malan, Z. 2020. The state of family medicine training programmes within the Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network. Afr J Prm Health Care Fam Med, 12(1), a2588.
The original publication is available at https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/index
The original publication is available at https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/index
Keywords
family practice, primary health care, Health Workforce, family medicine
Citation
Von Pressentin, K.B., Besigye, I., Mash, R., Malan, Z. 2020. The state of family medicine training programmes within the Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network. Afr J Prm Health Care Fam Med, 12(1), a2588.